The independence and diversity of Europe’s media is under threat from political interference and concentrated ownership

.

“No EU member state is today free from risks to media pluralism,” the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) at the European University Institute in Florence said after conducting a detailed examination of media plurality across 19 European Union member states.

Across the entire group, the major area of concern was media ownership. Control of media outlets often resides in the hands of only a few players, giving them outsized power, while in some places it’s unclear who TV channels or newspapers are owned by. That lack of transparency means citizens can’t “gauge the extent of potential bias in the information that is provided by a media outlet,” it said. Five countries were graded as being at high risk on ownership: Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, and Spain. Eight others were rated a medium risk: the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden.

The report also raised concerns about political independence.